A Neo Novel by Deborah Morrison, Arvind Singh

Connection of Heaven and Earth: Symbolism of the Cross and Tree

The Cross or Crucifix is readily associated with Christianity in terms of Christ’s sacrifice. Anyone who has watched Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” would have graphic images of the torment of the final hours of Jesus Christ’s life along with his crucifixion. The cross has become the central symbol of Christianity for these reasons and from 390 CE it has become its central symbol.

The cross is also a familiar symbol in other traditions as well. The cross has symbolised life, immortality, union of heaven and earth, and union of spirit and matter. It also represents the centre. The arms can be mapped to the four directions, a motif common in pre-Colombian civilizations like the Aztec and Maya in the Americas.

In essence, the cross represents the intersection of two lines. The vertical axis is the divine, the horizontal the human, and the meeting point between them represents the unity of heaven and earth, human and divine. It is like meeting the divine in the human heart.

In order to explore the meaning of the cross, we need to turn to an earlier understanding of the tree because the Christian cross is rooted in mythic account of two trees. Trees have a long fascination in human consciousness as symbols of mystery, life, and the center. The tree in its structure buries its roots in the earth, symbolic of a deep connection with the earth. It lives on the earth, yet its branches reach up to the heavens. So the tree embodies a connection of earth and heaven, of spiritual and physical realms.

Familiar trees in Abrahamic traditions are the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life present in the Garden of Eden myth along with the Qabbalistic off-shot of the Tree of Life (see Kabbalah). We also have the Christian Tree of the Cross on which Christ was sacrificed.

We find spiritual transformation as an important aspect of trees in many traditional accounts. The Buddha became enlightened under a Bodhi tree (“Tree of Enlightenment”), which signifies that like the tree’s renewal through new foliage, the Buddha was spiritually reborn that day. It involves a death of the ego for a new life like shedding old leaves for new.

Odin the chief god of Norse mythology, gained his wisdom hanging from a huge ash tree, the Yggdrasil. He spent nine nights hanging from that tree in order to find the runes, an alphabet used to write Germanic languages. Odin’s sacrifice on the tree symbolically parallels the crucifixion of Christ.

The Yggdrasil

This myth also reflects the idea of an axis mundi (“world axis”), which is the centre of the world that connects heaven and earth. In this case, the motif is of a world tree. Symbolically the cross also perfectly represents this axis of earthly and divine.

Parallels of holy trees can be found in myths of the Kumbun tree in Tibet and the Ashwattha or Hindu Tree of Life mentioned in the Bhagvad Gita, which grows upside down from heaven. The branches below represent the sensory world, while the roots above represent the spiritual world. So again, a nexus of heaven and earth is present.

The tree is a symbol of the unity of heaven and earth, however the Biblical Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life disrupt this unity through the Fall of Adam and Eve, and their descendants. Before the Fall, the world was non-dual with light and dark, good and evil, male and female, and knowledge and mystery united. After the partaking of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, duality emerged as each opposite separated into a polarized half. The tree in this myth no longer unites heaven and earth but instead it represents separation from the Tree of Life, nature and the divine.

So given the Fall, the Christian tradition asks for spiritual redemption. The tree of the Christian cross on which Christ dies as the new Adam symbolically reconnects earth and heaven. The link between the Cross and Tree of Life becomes clear in the Christian tradition that maintains the wood used in the Cross came from the same Tree in the Garden of Eden.

Francisco de Zurbaran’s drawing“Father forgive them, they do not know what they do.”
Interestingly, Christianity is one tradition that disrupts the original unity of humanity to spiritual life, nature, god and the self. Then its offers a soteriology of the cross to mend that break.

The tree represents the intersection of the divine and human realms. With the Fall of Adam and Eve this unity is disrupted, according to Christian perspective. So the crucifixion of Christ becomes necessary to restore this unity through his self-sacrifice in order to atone for Adam and Eve’s partaking the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In traditions, where this disruption through a Fall doesn’t occur, the need for a sacrifice is meaningless.

The cross takes much of the symbolic value of the tree. Both of them represent the meeting place for divine and human, heaven and earth, and they affirm a renewal of spiritual life.

A person who sincerely follows Christianity or Catholicism will become a better human being. While Christianity, including at times Catholicism, can be contextualized within a literalist language within certain circles, this isn’t the only interpretation. Any spiritual tradition can be read at many levels.

Understanding is important if we are to discuss religious issues in the spirit of respectful dialogue. Often times when people speak of their religious convictions, they do so with such “enthusiasm” that they wish to convince another person of their beliefs.

With an open-mind and an open-heart we can find growth in our path. We know how important listening is to communication, which is why listening needs to be active instead of passive. This involves a dialogue with another person not merely a monologue with your own thoughts, especially when speaking with someone outside your tradition.

I believe the essential message of Christ is of love, forgiveness, acceptance and healing, which are universal qualities shared by many traditions. When you read the Sermon on the Mount and New Testament parables you find those universal spiritual themes elucidated.

Jason, I thank you for your thoughtful question. Your spiritual journey as narrated on your blog is an interesting read.
Peace and blessings,

Thank you for your kind words. I agree with what your saying, and I will definetly speak back and forth with no enthusiasm as you requested. You did mention however, “This involves a dialogue with another person not merely a monologue with your own thoughts, especially when speaking with someone outside your tradition” I just want to lovingly say that it is never my own thoughts or my tradition, it is Christ’s thoughts and Christ’s traditions, written in His word.

You are correct in the essential message of Christ, and it seems to be shared by other traditions, or as I would like to call, different religions.

However, Christ also said in the same book he wrote the Sermon on the Mount and the New Testament parables, in Acts 4:12, Christ says, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” I look forward to more dialogue with you.

I thank you Jason for your comments. I respect your views even if they are different than mine.

The intention of our blog is not to focus on debate on religion but rather to explore spiritual themes with an open mind. Belief and faith are personal issues and each person will discover our own path in our life.

I personally accept spiritual and religious diversity as an important aspect of the world. My own faith allows me to be open-minded of different views and I have found through learning of other paths my own understanding has deepened. Many people in the world have found a way to live with understanding, toleration and respect.

Thank you so much for sharing the wonderful link on the anatomy of the core. It’s very insightful!

I have often felt similar ideas when studying Buddhism with its emphasis on “nothingness” or shunya and other traditions that emphasize “everythingness.” While at a surface level the two perspectives seem different, yet they meet at a deeper level as the link points out.

this isnt exactly concerning the whole cross, tree symbolism but is important to me to try and understand. im trying to establish a connection between heaven and the garden of eden for i believe that those two things might be actually one for the garden of eden’s gates were closed when adam and eve were sent away. and jesus died and reopened the pearly gates for us to all enter to be with God what if the gates he opened are one in the same with heavens gates. this might sound absurd but its something im trying to kinda help me with my faith and knowledge of basically everything thank you for your time

I’m want to apologize that my typing isnt exactly sophistcated and punctual. I’m 18 years old and just trying to understand more about my purpose in this world and what connections we might be overlooking or forgetting.

Christ died on the cross (perhaps fashioned from the same tree from the garden). He is now the new “fruit” “Unless you eat my flesh you shall not live” Thus the fruit in the Old Testament brought death to man and the fruit of Christ brought eternal life to man. This is why the Sacrament of the Eucharist is necessary for man to live.

As the progressive west smothers the Jewishness of the Bible through re-definitions that over-ride the need for re-contextualisation of the Bible, integral gist of the Jewish book which has more solubility with the waters of the eastern culture, gets side-washed. This has happened for more than 1500 years of political domination of the Greeks and other European nations. We understand this well, that, although the Sun and the Moon are two celestial realities, they are used in the Bible as mere Metaphors or rather Midrash references to God the Father and Jesus the Son in the New Testament.

When Jesus came to his people, he represented His Father, Yaweh. When he stayed back in the Temple at the age of twelve and his parents came back looking for him, he answered them, “I am about my Father’s Business” Jesus was never about Himself while He was here on earth amongst the Jews. The disciples asked him, “Show us the Father” to which He replied, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father”. In spite of several years of bondage to paganism our ancestors were able to grasp the concept of the Son reflecting the Father, to a big extent. This because the oneness of the Father and the Son, naturally demonstrated through a sub-conscious readiness to obedience, has been a vital characteristic of an ordinary Indian/oriental family since centuries. The Son learns in every way to represent his Father in society, and therefore the modern westernised mind anywhere in the world cannot easily grasp a Son’s identity being absolved into His Father’s. The teachings prevalent in the west, where individuality is upheld at all costs cannot bring to conviction the Biblical expectations of an obedient son who gives his life to comply to his father’s will. No wonder several Churches in the west dilly dally with semantics when it comes to explaining almost un-workable teachings of the Bible that relate to obedience, surrender, abnegation, abandonment and eventually martyrdom. These get slotted quickly with cultic similitude with ascetics and such. Today’s prophets are somehow stifled not so much by the unbelieving world but by much of the so-called professing laity from speaking boldly like those seers of yesteryears. This because, the society that crumbles to embrace an individualistic lifestyle, sneaks into the pews and pulpits of many of the Churches.

When the disciples sought to praise Jesus by saying, “Master thou art good”, then Jesus responds to that by saying, “Do not call me good, My Father who has sent me, is the One who is good”. When he knelt to sweat blood-drop like perspiration in the garden of Gethsemane, then he prayed, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not my will but thine be done”. On the cross Jesus does not forgive his tormentors, but he prays to his father and pleads “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”. At last he cries, “Into thy hands I commit my Spirit”. It is just plain to see that Jesus was the ideal son. This picture of Jesus the Son is not an alien concept within an eastern or rather an Indian mind. The Guru and Shishya (Lord and Disciple) relationship is also well understood by the people of the east much better than in the west. Yes I know well that there is a Mission field out here in India, in Bengal and within the strongholds of the Kali, Krishna, Durga and Druk the Dragon worship bastion. However, in many ways through several years of my exposure to the western Churches I feel the Mission field has encroached into the borough of the Church and well inside its boundaries.

Coming back to the prophecy of the Sun turning into darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord (Acts 2:20), although for sure this will be a physical reality but the physical display is a mere foreshadow or a midrashic pointer backward in history to the Cross where Jesus bled and died. And again, forward in future to the Church that will replay the cross again before the entire world for a final witness of the power of God before the great and awesome day. Nevertheless the cross is being replayed in and through the lives of countless martyrs since the day of Stephanus, Andronicus, James and Peter of the early Church right through the Roman inquisition and till now in a lot of countries around the world. These merely lead to the final day of our collective and yet unified witness.

Let me explain. The Sun originates light, while the Moon does not. The Moon merely reflects the light of the Sun onto the earth. This is what Jesus did when he came to earth. He was the Moon that merely reflected the Father who was the Sun the originator of Light. This role was chosen by Jesus willingly from eternity, and that submission to obedience is the true meaning of Unity – John 17:21. When Jesus was on the Cross, he was turned to Blood, fulfilling Joel’s prophecy of the Moon becoming blood in Acts 2:20, while the Sun, who was the Father turned to darkness in as figure of speech, turned His face away from the Son. When Jesus hung on the Cross and he was turned to blood, the world could not see the Father whom He was obeying on the Cross. The Centurion at that point looks to the “Moon turned Blood” and says, “Truly, this is the Son of God”. The question is, in what position must we the Sons of God (moons of Jesus the sun) appear before the non-believing world, that they would be obliged to say, “Truly these are Sons of God”? The position to which Paul complied to be “Crucified with Christ” is in preparation for us to accept the role of the moon before the sun that is Jesus.

Now, Jesus was resurrected and was ascended to sit at the right hand side of God – Mark 16:19. Therefore Jesus now cannot be seen, but the Church – His living Body, can be seen on earth. The role of the Church has therefore been turned to being the MOON and Jesus whom the Church reflects and represents in everyway on earth takes up the role of being the SUN. Jesus is the Light that the Church merely reflects on this earth. The Church has no light of her own other than what she receives from the Sun, Jesus. The replay of the Cross in the life of the Church is repeated umpteen times in and through the lives of thousands and millions of martyrs who have sung their way to willing death.

On the day of Pentecost, the sun was not turned to darkness, neither was the moon turned to blood. The reference of that Prophecy of Joel pointed out by Peter to those who sought to examine the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the hundred and twenty, was seemingly taken out of context, as it were, that is, if we are looking at it strictly with a western-legalistic angle. The prophecy was not a pointer to the day of Pentecost but it was a pointer to the era the day of Pentecost would usher in.

What more can I say, time will not permit for me to speak of Stephen, James, Bartholomew and Andronicus and all the myriads of willing martyrs who in truth were the ‘MOONS TURNED TO BLOOD’ when the world could not physically see Jesus. And just like Jesus who cried, Eli Eli Lama Sabchthani”, the Church filled with the Holy Spirit cries out during the hour of her witness, “Yeshuah, why hast thou forsaken me?” The Church as a whole is in preparation for a more glorious martyrdom where she turns to blood and the world in awe and amazement says, “Truly these are the Sons of God, or rather for Jesus as He looks at the blood stained Church, “Truly this is my bride!!!” That Christ will receive unto Himself a bride, who is chaste, pure and undefiled, is the hope toward which the Church is being prepared in wheel of the potter and the furnace of the goldsmith.

The cross and the tree have both been stolen from the pagans and incorporated into Christianity.

Cosses are one of the first symbols drawn by children of all cultures. Celtic coins minted many centuries before the Christian era show crosses.

The tree was considered magical, it’s roots extended beneath the earth and beneath the earth was a realm of great mystery. This was the Underworld, the predominant place of the God and ancestral spirits. But so did a trees branches bare fruit and reach up into the heavens another realm of great mystery and the predominant place of the Goddess, where the physical manifestations of both the God and Goddess could be seen in the Sun, Moon and Stars. Birds were thought to be the messengers of the gods and they often nest in trees to rear their young, so the trunk of the tree itself became a bridge between the worlds.

In folklore, many pagan gods sacrificed themselves on trees…

In reality, there is little that differentiates pagans from Christians.

Earlier this evening I had an epiphany about the symbolism of the cross as a tree, and needed to find someplace to see and possibly speak of it… But I think I understand why the teachings of Christ are interpreted as narrow when saying ““And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Thank you, Mr. Goodman)
I think it has to be taken in the context of where and when they lived. The Middle East at that time was filled with those of Hebrew descent, as well as the worshippers of different gods, the Romans in particular. This change to a God who stresses love and forgiveness as the highest virtues of mankind was completely unknown at the time. Contact with the Eastern religions was practically neglible if considered as a society changing force, and it would be years before the people that his message was being delivered to would discover the Western continent and the people there. Please I’m sorry if this is crazy or offensive, but I think Christ had to use strong language to convince all those that he possibly could in the region that they lived. I believe he trusted us, and believed that we would take his truest message into account, long before we made contact with cultures who might have seen his sacrifice as meaningless. (Thank you nexusnovel, that opened up a whole new line of thought for me)
By rejecting other religions that teach similar paths to enlightenment or different versions of heaven, we are betraying the message of his teachings. And that is the greatest tragedy of humanity. All across the world we are given the spiritual resources to become brothers and yet somehow we are always manipulated into taking up the sword by the greedy and bitter.
If my words offend anyone, I please ask for forgiveness